Top Fortinet Competitors and Alternatives

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Selecting the Right Network Security Solution:
Comparing Fortinet and Competitors

When selecting a next-generation firewall (NGFW) or other security solution, it’s important to choose one that meets the requirements of your business. Some solutions are better suited to smaller or larger organizations or offer varying levels of usability and security. Companies may also make tradeoffs between saving money and selecting a product that offers better protection for their systems and users. Choosing the right tool for the job is essential to verify that the organization will be properly protected against advanced cybersecurity threats.

While Fortinet is one of the big names in the firewall and security space, it might not be the right choice for many companies. This article explores some of the pros and cons of Fortinet and its main alternatives – including Check Point, Cisco, Barracuda Networks, SonicWall, WatchGuard Network Security, Palo Alto Networks – when it comes to network security.

The Pros and Cons of Fortinet Firewalls

Fortinet solutions are extremely attractive due to their reputation for high performance at low cost. However, Fortinet’s NGFWs do not always live up to this reputation. Some significant shortcomings of Fortinet solutions include:

• Management Complexity: Fortinet solutions can be difficult for administrators to configure and manage. This reduces operational efficiency and may create security gaps.
• Lack of Acceleration: Fortinet boasts hardware-based acceleration using Forti-ASIC for its firewall traffic. However, this only speeds up firewall operations, not traffic flowing through advanced security engines. As a result, these engines can create bottlenecks and degrade performance.
• SMB Oriented: Fortinet firewalls are primarily designed to support SMBs. They may not be able to meet enterprise-grade security requirements for management of complex IT environments.
• Fortinet exhibiting the highest vulnerability to high and critical vulnerabilities over the last three years (2021-2023), further compounded by being associated with the manufacturer that consistently demonstrates the most delayed response in addressing these vulnerabilities. These exploitable vulnerabilities — that prompted warnings by the FBI and CISA — leave Fortinet customers vulnerable to attack and waste CISO’s and security teams’ time and resources patching vulnerabilities in their security solutions.

Top Fortinet Competitors and Alternatives

Fortinet solutions have their advantages, but they have significant downsides as well. These are some of the top Fortinet alternatives that organizations should consider when searching for an NGFW or other security solution.
 

Check Point is a provider of cyber security solutions for network, endpoint, mobile, and cloud security. Some of the key features of Check Point products include:

• Operational Efficiency: Check Point’s security platform offers a higher degree of integration and more robust security than alternative solutions. By reducing manual processes, silos, and visibility gaps, this enables greater operational efficiency than less integrated alternatives.
• Proven Track Record: Check Point’s firewalls and security solutions have been a leader in the space since 1997. This is a longer and more consistent track record than any competitor.
• Security By Design: Check Point solutions are designed and built with a focus on security by design. Integrating security into core IT solutions — such as secure remote access — reduces the potential security gaps and inefficiencies of “bolted-on security”.
• Prevention Focus: Check Point solutions are designed around a philosophy of real-time threat prevention. This offers more efficient and comprehensive protection than solutions focused on threat detection and remediation.
• Best-in-Class Hyperscale Platform: Check Point solutions offer industry-leading hyperscalability. This supports corporate growth while offering excellent return on investment (ROI).
• Zero Trust Platform: Zero trust security unifies access management across an organization’s entire IT environment and is the future of cybersecurity. Check Point was labeled as a Leader in the Forrester Wave for Zero Trust Platforms in 2023.
• Innovation Culture: Check Point has been driving the evolution of security solutions for decades. This culture of evolution helps to ensure that its customers are protected against the latest cyber threats.

Cisco is best known for its networking solutions but offers security-focused products as well. Some things to keep in mind regarding Cisco solutions include:

• Disconnected Solutions: Cisco solutions include multiple different components for various purposes, including ASA for FW, Firepower for threat prevention, and Secure Web for web protection. Each of these has its policies and logs, increasing the challenge of monitoring and managing the solution.
• Vulnerable Solutions: Between 2021 and 2023, Cisco has disclosed 92 vulnerabilities discovered in their products. These vulnerabilities leave users exposed to attack until a patch has been released and applied and waste security teams’ time and resources.
• Complex Management: Day-to-day administrative and management tasks are complex, error-prone, and time-intensive. This consumes valuable time and resources and places additional strain on lean security teams.
• Retroactive Protection: For advanced threats, Cisco solutions provide protection only post-infection. This lack of real-time prevention provides attackers with a window in which to steal data or cause damage to systems.

Barracuda Networks’ firewalls have their advantages and disadvantages. Some of the most significant include the following:

• High Stability: Barracuda firewalls offer high stability. This helps to avoid potential errors or issues that leave the organization unprotected.
• Limited Features: Barracuda firewalls lack the same feature set as similar firewall solutions. For example, VPNs between different providers’ solutions can be unreliable.
• Complex Management: Barracuda Firewalls can be less administrator-friendly than alternatives. As a result, they add to security teams’ operational responsibilities.
• Firewall may incorrectly perceive outgoing traffic as secure, leading to potential failure in detecting malware attempting to establish an internet connection from within.

SonicWall offers firewalls, VPNs, and a range of other security solutions. Some of the main advantages and disadvantages of SonicWall’s security solutions include the following:

• Scalability: SonicWall firewalls offer good scalability. They can easily expand to meet the needs of different businesses or to support an expanding business.
• Good Customer Support: SonicWall offers a painless customer support process. Customers can easily get support, and service representatives are dependable.
• Limited Risk Visibility: SonicWall firewalls have limited visibility into high-risk applications. This increases the probability that advanced attacks will slip through the cracks.
• Lacking Security: SonicWall has a history of security issues, including the theft of source code for various products. This is concerning because it provides attackers with additional insight into potential vulnerabilities.
• Complex Configuration: SonicWall solutions do not offer the most administrator-friendly configuration process. In general, even the most basic setups require multiple steps.
• Limited Reporting: SonicWall solutions offer no predefined reports and a lack of access to raw security data. This complicates compliance reporting and forensic investigations after a security incident has been detected.

WatchGuard Network Security offers a range of firewalls as well as other network security solutions. Some key considerations for WatchGuard firewalls include the following:

• Good Small Business Support: WatchGuard solutions can be a good choice for small companies looking to secure their networks. However, they lack the scale and capabilities required for enterprises looking to secure branch locations.
• Limited Risk Visibility: WatchGuard solutions provide limited visibility into the risks associated with the applications that they protect. This can provide organizations with a false sense of security regarding their risk exposure.
• Poor VPN Performance: WatchGuard’s VPN capabilities offer inferior performance when compared to similar solutions geared toward SMBs. This can create challenges for organizations looking to support and secure a hybrid or remote workforce.
• No Predefined Security Policy: WatchGuard solutions do not offer a predefined security policy out of the box. This results in a complicated setup process as organizations need to define and implement security policies themselves.
• Limited Logging: WatchGuard solutions have basic logging capabilities that provide limited information. This makes it more difficult to identify and troubleshoot any issues that arise with the solution.

Palo Alto Networks offers a range of security solutions designed to protect various IT systems and environments. Some important considerations regarding Palo Alto Network firewalls include the following:

• Retroactive Protection: Palo Alto Network solutions are not capable of real-time prevention of advanced threats. Instead, protection is applied after the fact, which runs the risk of being too late.
• Vulnerable Solutions: Between 2021 and 2023, 32 high and critical severity vulnerabilities were identified in Palo Alto Networks products and included many PAN-OS vulnerabilities that prompted an advisory by USCYBERCOM. These vulnerabilities leave the organization vulnerable and force security teams to waste time and resources patching their security software.
• Limited Efficiency and Scalability: Operating Palo Alto Network solutions can be complex and inefficient. This is especially true in large-scale, complex IT environments.
• Low Risk Visibility: Palo Alto Networks solutions offer limited visibility into high-risk applications. This complicates risk management and can engender a false sense of security.
• Palo Alto examines segments of the traffic for potential threats, thereby introducing a risk factor for customers, particularly through the Content-ID feature.

Choosing the Right Solution for Your Business

When selecting a firewall or other security solution, it’s important to consider a range of different factors. The ideal security solution integrates with your existing architecture, provides robust security and is user-friendly and scalable with the needs of your business.

Check Point offers a range of security solutions that offer enterprise-grade threat prevention to every part of an organization’s IT infrastructure. To see the benefits of a Check Point Quantum NGFW for yourself, sign up for a free demo today.